(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijan's permanent representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev
has urged Armenia to renounce hostile narratives and commit to
normalizing inter-state relations in line with international law,
Azernews reports.
Aliyev made the remarks in a letter to the UN Secretary-General
about the consequences of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani
territories and the vandalism committed over 30 years against the
cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh region.
The letter was a response to Armenia's allegations about the
'destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage' sounded in a letter
sent by the Armenian representative to the UN Secretary-General a
few days ago.
The head of the Azerbaijani permanent mission to the UN said
that instead of attempting to distort the facts, confuse the
international community, misinterpret international documents,
incite hostility and hatred, Armenia should, first of all, give up
hostile narratives, stop hate propaganda and its sponsorship.
It must refrain from such actions, prosecute and punish those
responsible for war crimes, commit to the normalization of
interstate relations in line with international law, fulfill
international obligations in good faith, and support efforts to
establish, strengthen and maintain peace in the region, he
added.
Aliyev emphasized that Armenia seeks to evade responsibility for
the barbaric crimes committed during the armed conflict, falsify
history and substantiate its territorial claims by distorting the
main causes of the war it started against Azerbaijan.
The document notes that Armenia impudently uses such a delicate
topic as cultural heritage, silently ignoring the numerous facts
that openly show its policy of slander and hostility towards
Azerbaijan for decades. For example, it is well known that, unlike
Azerbaijan, Armenia is a mono-ethnic country and has achieved a
kind of ethnic composition by expelling other peoples, including
hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, who were once the largest
national minority in Armenia.
Azerbaijan's cultural heritage has been completely destroyed
across Armenia, and many historical sites have been 'rebuilt' to
change their unique characteristics. Armenia has pursued a similar
policy in relation to the previously occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. Most of the towns and villages in Azerbaijan, which
fell to the Armenian army in the early 1990s, were subjected to
ethnic cleansing, which affected more than 700,000 Azerbaijanis,
and were subsequently demolished.
Thousands of cultural sites, including mosques, temples,
mausoleums, museums, art galleries, archeological monuments,
libraries, and theaters, were looted and destroyed. The envoy
emphasized that, in addition, the original architectural features
of many cultural and religious sites have been deliberately and
purposefully altered in order to deny and distort the history,
culture, and ethnic identity of Azerbaijan.
The head of the Azerbaijani mission to the UN further noted that
as a result of the occupation, Armenia desecrated Azerbaijani
religious sites using them as a barn for cattle. Of the 67 mosques
and Islamic shrines, 65 were destroyed and two were severely
damaged. Against this background, Armenia states that it supports
'friendly relations and constructive cooperation' with most Muslim
countries. This is the highest degree of impudence.
In addition, 900 cemeteries in the previously occupied
territories were vandalized. Azerbaijan has identified the
destruction of millions of books and rare manuscripts, and the
theft of thousands of museum exhibits and valuable artifacts found
during illegal archeological excavations in these areas. This is an
irreplaceable loss for the Azerbaijani cultural heritage.
The Azerbaijani diplomat stressed that these crimes were
strongly condemned by the international community. At the 48th
session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, held in Islamabad on March 22-23, 2022,
large-scale and widespread acts of vandalism, as well as
desecration, looting, and destruction of archeological monuments,
cultural heritage, and religious sites, including mosques and
Islamic of shrines were strongly condemned, and Azerbaijan's
efforts to hold Armenia accountable for violating its obligations
were supported.
The council also strongly condemned the insulting and
desecration of mosques in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan
by using them as stables for pets, and demanded that Armenia put an
end to its attempts to present Azerbaijan's historical and cultural
heritage as its own.
Moreover, during the years of occupation, the puppet regime
established by Armenia in Karabakh established a number of
facilities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which also
served as a symbol of Armenia's colonial and annexation policy.
The letter says that immediately after the war, Azerbaijan
declared the restoration and reconstruction of the liberated
territories, as well as of all historical and cultural sites
without exception, as its first priority. At the invitation of the
Azerbaijani government, many international organizations,
officials, and independent experts visited these areas to witness
and document the damage caused during the 30 years of occupation
and to observe the restoration work.
Now, Armenia, which has made loud statements about the
'imperative' of UNESCO's unimpeded access to the liberated
territories of Azerbaijan, 'forgets' that it has consistently
refused to allow the organization to visit those territories during
the occupation period.
For instance, in its report on the implementation in the period
from 1995 until 2004 of the Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols
of 1954 and 1999, UNESCO stated that it was not in a position to
dispatch a mission to check the condition of cultural property in
the area since other specialized agencies of the United Nations
cannot enter these territories after the Armenian armed forces
occupied them.
The Azerbaijani diplomat writes that even after the war, Armenia
continues to politicize the participation of humanitarian
organizations. The above-mentioned letter and the report attached
to it are proof of Armenia's efforts to obstruct and disrupt the
discussion by disseminating hostile narratives and incorrect
information.
Regarding the International Court of Justice's decision on
temporary measures issued on December 7, 2021, Armenia is
deliberately silent on the fact that Azerbaijan has also sued
Armenia in accordance with the provisions of the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, and the Court has issued two decisions on temporary
measures.
Even the prejudiced wording created under the influence of the
Armenian Diaspora, accepted by the European Parliament in March
2022, does not keep mute regarding the Armenian side's atrocities
against Azerbaijan and its cultural and religious heritage, the
letter stresses.
For example, the resolution acknowledges that the Azerbaijani
cities of Aghdam and Fuzuli have been almost completely destroyed
and looted and that Azerbaijan's cultural heritage sites, including
cultural and religious monuments abandoned by Azerbaijani IDPs,
have been damaged or destroyed.
It is emphasized that these facilities were completely or
partially destroyed, turned into ruins, and insulted, since they
were used as barns for cattle, modified to erase cultural traces,
or demolished and turned into building materials.
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